1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an autogyro aircraft with accommodations providing a motorcycle rider transportation experience.
2. Description of Related Art
Autogyro aircraft are known in the art. An autogyro aircraft derives lift from an un-powered, freely-rotating rotating wing or plurality of rotor blades. The energy to rotate the rotating wing results from the forward movement of the aircraft in response to a thrusting engine, such as a motor driven propeller.
During the developing years of aviation aircraft, autogyro aircraft were proposed to avoid the problem of aircraft stalling in flight and to reduce the need for runways. The relative airspeed of the rotating wing is independent of the forward airspeed of the autogyro, allowing slow ground speed for takeoff and landing, and safety in slow-speed flight. Engines with attached propellers may be tractor-mounted on the front of an autogyro or pusher-mounted on the rear of the autogyro. Typically an autogyro will cruise near 100 miles per hour (mph), but much slower speeds, down to 20 mph are safely accommodated, making them useful for touring and sightseeing.
Airflow passing the rotating wing, alternately called rotor blades or rotor, which are tilted upwardly toward the front of the autogyro, provides the driving force to rotate the wing. The Bernoulli effect of the airflow moving over the rotating wing surface creates lift. The autogyro rotor will provide lift even if the engine fails, allowing the aircraft to slowly descend as in a normal landing.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,590,497 issued to Juan de la Cierva, of Madrid, Spain, illustrated perhaps the earliest embodiment of an autogyro. He is credited with inventing the autogyro. Even though the principal focus for rotating wing flight shifted to helicopters, there has been a small but continuing interest in autogyro craft, particularly for one or two person personal aircraft. A number of improvements to aid in performance have been developed. Autogyros available today are primarily personal aircraft. That is they are small, light, and accommodate one, or at most 2, people. The evolution of the operator accommodation and operating controls for the craft have, however, followed winged aircraft practice, including practices for ultra-light aircraft. Examples are U.S. Pat. No. 2,954,186 (Bilbrey) which discloses a personal aircraft with a bench seat and a single lever control, U.S. Pat. No. 3,149,802 (Wigal) discloses an autogyro with an enclosed cockpit and tilting rotor mast and propeller engine mounting to provide shorter take-off distances, U.S. Pat. No. 4,653,705 (Bensen) discloses operator accommodations similar to Bilbrey with an automatic transmission to coordinate propeller speed with rotor speed, U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,033 (Haseloh et al) discloses an autogyro with an enclosed cockpit and an adjustable angle on the rotor mast to assist in control, U.S. Pat. No. 5,544,844 (Groen et al) discloses another closed cockpit with a bench seat and a stick control system and retractable landing gear. This patent also describes one form of rotor blade pre-rotator that is used to start the rotor blades turning prior to takeoff.
There is a sizable segment of adventurous people who enjoy motorcycle riding for the rider experience. A personal aircraft with such an accommodation will appeal to people in this segment. One patent, U.S. Pat. No. 1,578,740 (Kurelic) proposed a motorcycle-like accommodation for a hydroplane that was also capable of the wheels being powered by the operator pedaling, an un-motorcycle-like activity. The patent claims a combination motorcycle and collapsible winged aeroplane with the wheels also driven by the engine like a motor vehicle. Another patent, U.S. Pat. No. 5,377,775 (Rush) is described as a hovercraft motorcycle but the operator accommodation is similar to a typical automobile. Neither of these provides a true aircraft with an experience like motorcycle riding. In operating a motorcycle, the rider straddles the seat facing the windshield, or open air if there is no windshield, with the handlebar ends gripped by the hands and the upper legs straddling the simulated fuel tank and the lower legs straddling the engine. In this position the rider has control over the machine. Turns are navigated by a slight turn of the handlebars and leaning the body to the side the machine is turning. The machine leans in the direction of the turn as the rider experiences the thrill of interactive control with a small vehicle moving at high speed.
The prior art suffers from a lack of familiar operator accommodation to make personal aircraft easier to learn to fly, less intimidating to the person who is not a fixed-wing aircraft pilot, and more fun to operate. The prior art also suffers from a fixed-wing aircraft bias in the styling of the vehicles. A rotating wing personal aircraft with a motorcycle rider operator accommodation and a control system that is familiar to motorcycle riders is needed to take the motorcycle interactive experience to the air.